Friday, March 23, 2007

“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”John 1:1-4

“3By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”Hebrews 11:3

“1God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”Hebrews 1:1-3a

“15And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”Colossians 1:15-17

Upholds all things by the word of His power. In Him all things hold together.Former Vice President Al Gore (and the rest of us) need not worry about global warming/cooling or meteors striking the Earth or aliens attacking in cool spaceships or even man blowing himself up in a nuclear holocaust.“Al, buddy. Chill. Don’t let global warming get you hot under the collar. Jesus, whether you believe in Him or not, has all of Creation under control, including what happens on this little planet. Relax.Where’s your faith, man? What? In mankind being able to solve any problems that he creates? Wow.And they call us Christians fanatics. Tell you what, take Tipper out for a nice meal, (personal note-all kidding aside, I’ve always liked Tipper. I’ve never seen her being less than gracious, and I think she’s a fine lady. Okay, back to the) a nice meal, and maybe stop by a church next Sunday morning, and hear a sermon about the Sovereignty of God.”

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Christians in this world must ‘render unto Caesar’ but never surrender unto anyone. Please hear me out.Noah was politically incorrect. He alone found Grace in the sight of the Lord, meaning that the entire world was wrong headed. Rather than going along with everyone else, Noah did what was right. In a sense, he was a rebel against the world system in place, but actually he was the only faithful-to-God person in a rebellious world.When we Christians in our age face being termed “Politically Incorrect” because we come up against a world system which is in rebellion against God, all we can do is follow Noah’s example: Do what God tells us to do.We pay our taxes, support representatives who share our views, obey the laws of our land, whichever land it is where God plants us. I’m thankful that I live in a country where I have freedom of expression, but I also recognize that many of my Christian brothers and sisters around the world are not free to express themselves without being put to death. When they speak out about Christ, they may be running afoul of the local government, but they are also following Noah’s example: doing what God has told them to do.And I am certain that God appreciates and will reward their faith.Once again, at the top of this post is a link to Voice of the Martyrs, which ministers to the persecuted church around the world. I encourage you to look through their site and materials. I have their “The Cross in China” about the Chinese persecuted church, and it is wonderful to hear the stories of the faithful, but also chilling to hear of their persecution. I know that God is working in the hearts of every one of us who are called by His name. May God continue to bless and strengthen you.

Following is a letter written to the editor of the Arizona Republic, Arizona's largest local paper, which, naturally, the Republic chose not to print. So I take the opportunity to publish this letter written by Matthew du Mée, Legal and Policy Aide for The Center for Arizona Policy, which points out the cockeyed position of an extreme lefty cartoonist. You can see the cartoon by clicking hereand searching the archives for February 25.

Dear Editor,Sunday’s Benson cartoon pictured John McCain gleefully tossing a woman off a rowboat entitled “Roe v. Wade.” The cartoon implicitly equates wanting to overturn Roe with wanting to somehow hurt women. The truth is exactly the opposite. Defenders of abortion on demand have shown time and time again that they are willing to sacrifice the health of women to protect the “right” of abortion. Just look at the evidence. The evidence from numerous studies shows abortion hurts women.When a law was proposed requiring women to be fully informed about the risks of an abortion, who stood up for women? When funding was proposed for crisis pregnancy centers that give women alternatives to abortion, who stood up for women? When a law was proposed requiring young girls to get parental consent before undergoing an abortion, who stood up for women? In each instance, it was those like John McCain who would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned. And in each instance, defenders of abortion on demand threw women overboard, all in the name of “reproductive rights.”

Thursday, March 08, 2007

There's a tendency in the world to think that being just a little dishonest is okay. Fudging a little, omitting a little information, flirting a bit, ignoring a legal obligation with no teeth, not keeping a promise to your child...you know, things that really don't seem to hurt anyone. Just a reminder that the Word says this:

The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out. Proverbs 10.9

I had to laugh when I heard that Mr. Obama "had no idea he had outstanding charges." A few weeks before he announced his presidential candidacy, he finally paid the parking tickets he received from Oct. 5, 1988 to Jan. 12, 1990.

Does anyone really believe that he didn't think he could just be a little dishonest back in 1990? Ignore the tickets and get away with it? Wouldn't it be better just to admit he walked a crooked path in 1990 and apologize, instead of pretending he didn't remember 17 parking tickets? Why would anyone feel the need to be dishonest about that?

Just as a matter of full disclosure, I've had a parking ticket. It was two years ago and I remember getting it. I paid it. I also got a speeding ticket. I fought the law on that one, and I won. I remember it quite distinctly, even though it was twenty years ago.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

“16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.18For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.24Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:16-25

Recently I was once more called “Arrogant”, which is like so much water off a goose’s back. But it did set me to thinking about why we Christians seem arrogant to others. We are called to humility, not arrogance. What’s going on?What is going on is the difference being indwelt of the Holy Spirit makes in a person. To the world, the best ‘Christians’ are those who don’t get in their way, won’t make an issue of sin; one who doesn’t trust that the Bible is God’s Word, or, if pressed, admit that there is a God at all.That is the sort of ‘Christian’ who is accepted by the world.I’ll give you a hint, kids: Those ‘Christians’ are so easy for you to accept because they do not have God’s Holy Spirit within them.A true Christian, indwelt by His Spirit, will humble himself before God. He does this not only because he is required to do so, but because in his spirit he recognizes that God is real, is truly there, and is fully deserving of our worship.The world believes that we are fools, prostrating ourselves before an empty altar.Unsure of anything, they consider it the height of arrogance to believe that God is there.“20From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”Our friend Jake recently said something to the effect: “They (Christians) are right because they think they are right. And they think they are right because they are right.” And Jake is close to correct. It’s better stated: “They (Christians) are right because they think God is right. And God is right.”Who is arrogant?